Burns on the Soul
by J's Royal King
Summary: Thranduil is badly injured in the battle against the serpents of the North. The kingdom does not know if he will survive. Thranduil whump and fluff between Thranduil and Legolas. First LotR and I haven't actually read it yet, feel free to tell me if I'm doing a horrible job.
1. Chapter 1

First off I don't own any characters in Lord of the Rings, or the Hobbit, or the Silmarillion. Though there will be OC's.

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The last time I had seen my King he was leaping off to save some injured troops from a fire serpent. We had been separated, a failure for me as his guard, and I had not seen him since.

"The King! Have you seen the King!" I yelled in desperation pushing through stunned elves. Everyone around me was injured and battle-weary but no one has recently seen the king.

"Has anyone seen the King!" I was becoming desperate the battle was over and the King should have returned.

I was stopped suddenly as someone grabbed the edge of my cloak. I turned to the elf that had grabbed me, he was lying on the stretcher. I bent down to catch the words he was desperately trying to force out.

"He saved me and my Squadron from a fire serpent and let us escape." He stopped, desperately gasping air. "We tried to stay and help but he ordered us to go. We were injured and struggling."

He stopped again, his eyes becoming unfocused and his mouth gaping. I grasped his shoulders and shook him harshly, perhaps too harshly considering his state, but he was my only clue to the whereabouts of the King.

"Where? Where was that!"

The weary elf again focused on me, his mouth opening and closing as he attempted to form words.

"North, we were North."

I barely stayed long enough to hear the end of his sentence. I dashed off, ordering two foot soldiers to follow me as I headed north.

"My King! King Thranduil!"

The two soldiers and I swept the battlefield. We came across other soldiers that were struggling back to the camp and we pointed them the right direction but we continued. We checked the bodies of fellow fallen soldiers and came across many with blank stares of death. The deaths of fellow elves saddened me but I did not let myself linger, the mourning of their death came later. I continued my search, praying that I would not have to mourn the death of my king.

We were nearly to the edge of the battlefield and still no sign of pale blonde hair or shining silver armor. I did not let myself lose hope, the king was a warrior and would not fall so easily, perhaps he was merely helping a fellow elf return to camp. We would find the king.

I was checking for life in another foot soldier, and praying for his spirit when there was none to be found when my fellow searcher called, "I have found the king!"

I immediately sprinted to his side but stopped short when I saw the state of the great king of Mirkwood.

He was barely recognizable and could have easily been overlooked. His silver armor had been burnt to a black, the left side of the chest plate and the vambrace on his left arm were melted and warped. His rare pale blonde hair, the same shade as his son who was waiting at home, was soaked in blood and mud. The most noticeable change was the left side of his face, it was burnt so badly it was barely recognizable as elven. If there had been anything in my stomach it would have come up at the sight of the horrific injury marring a beautiful elven face.

The foot soldier was kneeling on the king's burnt side and seemed scared to touch him as if he would damage him further. I dropped to the king's right, unburnt side. His head was turned to me and I could see that his eyes were closed, never a good sign for an elf. I pressed my fingers to the king's neck just under his jaw. Praying to the Valar that I would find a pulse. I could not tell if his chest was rising and falling with breath due to the damaged armor. I bowed my head and concentrated on my fingertips. And there, and faint flutter. Not nearly strong enough but enough to prove that the king still lived.

The other foot soldier had arrived, the one who had the foresight to bring a litter. He was standing at my side, waiting for an order.

"He lives, but just barely. We must rush him to a healer."

The litter was placed on the ground next to the prone form of the king. I braced the king's head as the two soldier lifted his shoulders and legs respectively. He made no sound as he was lifted, and no movement was evident. The three of us rushed the king back to the camp, hoping he would survive the short journey.

As soon as the camp came into sight I was yelling once again.

"A healer! A healer! The king is injured!"

When we reached the border of the camp we were swarmed by a pack of elves in the uniform of a healer and I recognized a few to be royal healers. I was separated from the king's side as he disappeared into the camp, carried away by those who could best help him. And I hoped they could.

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I have only actually only read the Hobbit, but I'm working on the Silmarillion and will eventually get to Lord of the Rings. I recently discovered that I have a slight obsession with elves, cause they're badass. And I think Thranduil is awesome so I wanted to write about him. I also wanted to write some fluff between him and Legolas so I figured a horrific injury that is kind of canon works as a place to start.

This piece will be pretty short, if I finish, no promises, I'm horrible at starting things and not finishing. I start something when I have inspiration then stop when I run out and get distracted by something else.

Sorry to anyone who has read my other stuff, I may finish now that I'm in a writing mood. I think I'll finish Swordfighting at least, no promises on Over the Sea, it was planned to be long but that was awhile ago.


	2. Chapter 2

I apologize to anyone who is bugged by tense. I'm horrible at staying in one tense and did not feel like putting in the effort to fix it. If you're willing to beta I'd be happy to send it to you to fix.

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I was splinting a soldier's broken leg when I was summoned by a harried healer. I did not recognize him, he must be one from Rivendell.

"T-th-th-the, the," The healer stuttered, I had had many long nights dealing with the injuries of the army during the course of the battle and was in no mood to deal with someone else's incompetence.

"Just spit it out already," I growled as I continued to wrap the unconscious ellon's leg into a brace. The bone had been nearly split in two and he had passed out when it was set into place, there had been no time or resources for anesthesia.

"The king! King Thranduil has been found and is injured. I do not know how badly, but I was sent to find you."

I froze upon hearing that the king was injured. If I was being sent for in such a hurry that means it was very bad. The king normally left me to deal with more serious patients or stumbled along to me on his own two feet after being badgered by his advisors.

I thrust the bandage into another healer's hands, one of my own and turned to the harried elf. "Lead me to him now."

Thankfully he headed off without another word. The chaos of the crowd split into a path for us, the news must have spread and I was widely recognizable as the king's healer. I silently thanked them for their cooperation, hoping to myself that I could uphold their faith in me. They trusted me to save their king.

As we neared the edge of the camp we headed straight for a group of healer's that had gathered near the edge. I left the other elf behind and shoved my way to the front in order to have first access to my charge.

There was a group of three elves, all bearing Mirkwood armor. I recognized the one leading the way as one of the king's guards, but could not recall his name. He was yelling for help, his voice sounded helpless. The two he was leading were carrying a stretcher carefully, but with obvious haste. My healer instincts instantly recognized exhaustion in their strides, but I was more concerned with the occupant of the stretcher. If the king was not well enough to walk I had my work cut out for me. Even with broken limbs the king would always insist on walking since his childhood, and I had been there through all of it. I would not see a life I helped bring into this world end.

As soon as the small group had entered the confines of the camp I was in charge and ordering the elves around me into action, and critically analyzing the king's state of health and separating his saviors, they would be unable to help him anymore. Upon seeing his face and warped armor I pressed my fingers to his throat. Fearing that if he had been alive when he was found he may not be now. I had felt many pulses and I was glad that I felt another, but saddened why I had to.

Knowing that he was alive let me temporarily go into a more commanding state of mind. We needed to get the king somewhere safe and sheltered where he wouldn't be bothered and we wouldn't have to move him.

"You," I pointed at an elleth that was accompanying us." Run ahead and clear out the command central tent. We need the space. You, find Lord Elrond and tell him to meet us there. And someone else find a skilled smith, tell them we need help with some melted armor." All three immediately detached themselves from the mass that was escorting the king through the camp and dashed off to their appointed jobs.

There was not much I could do as we were on the move but I did my best to make sure the two carrying the king did not jostle him too harshly and I kept my fingers pressed into his wrist, counting his heartbeats. They were few and weak, but his heart was still beating and that's all I need.

We arrived at the command tent quickly. It was the largest in the camp, disregarding the medical tents, though it was not overly large. It was just enough to have space to treat the king and fit in all necessary tools that would be needed without feeling cramped. There were a few elves still clearing out documents and some unneeded furniture, which I was thankful for. The curtains of the doorway were pulled apart, letting the mass escorting the king in without pause. One of the smaller tables had been cleared and moved to the middle while the large table that was normal centered in the room had been shoved to the side.

The king was gently lifted onto the table, we did not bother removing him from the litter, it would make it easier to move him later if necessary. AS soon as the king was settled onto the table the others stepped back to give me full access to my charge

I scanned the king's entire for, starting at his feet, for the moment ignoring the most obvious injuries of the burns. His tough leather boots were stained with other blood or mud and were torn, along with his softer leather pants directly above his knee of the right leg. Categorizing those possible injuries I analyzed his melted breastplate. I poked and prodded the warped metal, letting the others strip him of what they could, his boots, greaves off of his shins and polyens off his knees. His pants were cut short, allowing access to his legs without having to jostle his entire body.

I noticed these things without interfering, superficial wounds can easily be handled by the others. The king's breastplate appeared to have been crushed on the left side then melted to sit melded with the back piece. It was constricting and I worried for his breathing capacity. I lowered my ear to his mouth and nose, trying to judge the strength of his breathing without access to his chest. I blocked out the clamor of those around me and focused on feeling the faint puffs of air on m cheek. I could hear a faint wheezing as the king's body struggled to expand its compressed chest. His breathing was rough and shallow, his throat probably smoke damaged, but it was regular.

Reassured that the king could breathe there was no immediate rush to remove the damaged armor, we could wait for someone with more expertise to arrive. I moved away from his head, allowing an elleth to pull back his hair. Much of it had been burnt off from the left side but it would still be prudent to pull the remaining hair out of the way from the burn on his face.

I was working on removing the burnt vambrace when Lord Elrond swept into the tent, a blacksmith in tow. He was also battle worn but had played a larger role as a commander and healer than as a warrior as the king had done.

"What has happened?" The lord's voice was controlled but I was familiar enough with him that I could identify the apprehension and exhaustion in his voice. He could not yet see the prone body off the king as he was surrounded by elves that were tending his various wounds and needs.

"I need your power, my Lord. I fear I may not be able to help him on my own. I am tired and he is gravely injured." I shooed away some of the unnecessary healers, sending them outside the tent to tend to the soldiers, clearing up some room in the tent. Lord Elrond settled on the other side of the king, opposite me. He easily fell into the role of healer, checking the king's pulse and breathing as I had done.

"How do you plan to remove the armor?"

"That is why I have summoned him." I beckoned the blacksmith over, he had been waiting patiently by the entrance. "What do you need to remove this safely?"

The blacksmith looked over the ruined armor as the other healers finished treating the king's wounded legs. They laid a blanket over his lower half and left to assist outside now that they were no longer needed. The only ones to stay were Lord Elrond' personal assistants. The tent was much calmer with so few people, we could again hear the cries of the wounded from the outside.

"Due to the light nature of the armor it should be relatively simple to remove." The blacksmith stated after examining the armor. "But I'll need to reheat the metal to separate it smoothly instead of cracking it open, which would possibly further crush the king's chest. The leather armor that he wears under the metal plate should have prevented him from serious burns and will prevent the re-melting from burning him also."

I felt some relief that the damage under the armor would not be as serious as I had previously thought.

Lord Elrond addressed the blacksmith, "What do you need in order to accomplish this? It needs to be done quickly."

"This would be much easier if he were moved to the temporary forge, but I assume that is not possible." The blacksmith peered up at us from under the hand he had pressed to his forehead while in thought. Seeing the disapproving looks on our faces he sighed and looked back at the warped armor. "Then I need access to a nearby hot fire, and I will need to fetch some tools. It will not take long to remove the armor, but he needs to be transferred to near the fire, at the least."

"Go," Lord Elrond ordered the blacksmith, "We will begin the fire, fetch your tools and anything that might be needed."

The blacksmith gave a quick bow and hurried out of the tent, Lord Elrond following him out at a much more controlled pace. He was calling orders for a fireplace to be constructed near the tent, and for hot coals to be collected.

With the handling of the armor temporarily put on hold I turned my attention to the king's damaged face. I fetched some salve that had been created for the purpose of treating dragon fire burns and began to imbue it with healing magic. As I did this one of Elrond's assistants that had stayed began to gently clean the burn.

In the back of my mind I worried about the lasting damage and the possibility that he has lost sight in his left eye. But I banished those thoughts, determining what to be done about the amount of damage would be dealt with after all of his wounds were treated. I focused my power into what I could do in the present.

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Anyone have ideas for the next chapter? I'm thinking of skipping removing the armor, I feel it would be tedious, but if you think it would be good I'll write it. But I don't know whose POV it'd be from.

Toolazytologin: Thanks so much, I fixed those two things. Yes, he is an OC, I haven't quite decided if he'll have more a role yet. I think I might tell this entirely through others. Also, I haven't quite decided yet. This was a spur of the moment story, I'm writing as it comes.

Guest1: I was able to get my hands on a cheap copy of the Silmarillion on my Kindle. And I prefer to read real books, but I am currently a few thousand miles from home. So I'm going to wait until I get home to delve into LotR.

Guest2: Thank you:D

MareiBloom14: Thank you too!


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